Children are able to start beekeeping in 4-H officially at age 9, with prep groups starting at 7 & 8 years old.

The club meets on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month (except during holidays) at the Ted Blum 4H Building in Bridgewater, NJ. Please check the calendar for details.

4-H and all its wonderful opportunities:

The club enables youth with simple, easy to read literature to start their bee adventure. They will learn why honey bees live in a colony, the importance of the queen, workers and the drones and many more things. They will study the parts and functions of the bees and also the hives they live in.

At the start of the year we set our goals and decide what projects we will work (individually and as a club). Curriculum and topic areas are focused to meet the education needs of these goals.

A good beginning project is building & maintaining a bee hive. The equipment for this can be ordered from several bee supply stores online or a near by store that carries them. Our club attempts to reduce the cost of equipment through purchasing as a group. Savings on shipping are considerable. Our 4-H beekeeping group learns how to assemble the components upon the arrival of their equipment. Some of the club members ordered bees in packages or nucs. Both methods are reviewed at club meetings.

As club member's beekeeping experience mature they may look to complete a more advanced project. The club offers many areas of competition to its membership. Please look at the upcoming fair guide for different classes of competition.

Prep Members and some members may wish to work a non-competitive project. Project goals should be discussed with parent or guardian and club leaders at the beginning of the year.